I have made this lovely cake multiple times, having stumbled upon it in my search for recipes that used yogurt. Either I had a surplus, or it was too thin, or too sour, or I had strained a large amount into Greek yogurt, I had wanted to use a good bit of yogurt. Since then, I have made it regardless of the state of my yogurt. It is the perfect “tea” cake, the sort I imagine being served with tiny, elegant sandwiches and perfectly brewed tea. Since I don’t “do” tea, neither does anyone else I know for that matter, we think it’s a wonderful dessert. The cake slices beautifully, has a soft, fine texture and is kept moist with a sweet but citrusy-tart glaze. It’s one of those recipes that can be made with all whole grain flour and can still keep its tender integrity. I love that when you use grapefruit, lemons, oranges, or even limes, the citrus flavor is resounding because of the baked-in zest and the fresh juice in the glaze.

Adapted from Ina Garten

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pre-sifted whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. flaky salt

1 cup plain full-fat yogurt

1 1/3 cups unrefined sugar, divided

3 eggs

2 tsp. lemon zest (about 2 lemons)

1/2 cup melted unsalted butter

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Glaze:

1/4 cup powdered sugar (you can make your own in a blender by blending 1 cup granulated sugar with 1 tbsp. cornstarch)

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350º

Directions:

1.Grease a loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.

2. Melt butter and set aside. In another bowl whisk together 1 cup sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla.

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3. Slowly mix dry ingredients with the wet. Fold in the melted butter until fully incorporated.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for several minutes before lifting out.

5. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves and the syrup turns clear.

6. Pour the lemon/sugar sauce over the warm cake and cool.

Glaze:

1. Mix together the powdered sugar and 2 tbsp lemon juice and drizzle over the cake.
(I didn’t manage a picture of this step, because, this time around, I completely skipped it…but it is an tasty option!)

 

18 Jan This entry was published on January 18, 2013 at 9:02 pm. It’s filed under All Season, Desserts, Winter and tagged cake, citrus, lemons, tea cake, whole wheat, yogurt. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.